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Comment Re:Lack of Mozilla Focus (Score 1) 22

Strangely, no one connects the many claims that garbage collected languages "eliminate a whole class of programming errors" is good with the aforementioned "typed languages eliminate a whole class of programming errors" as good also.

Almost nobody uses "untyped languages". Few of those even exist, with Forth and various assembly languages being the main examples. (C, with its type system that is as airtight as a sieve, gets an honorary mention.)

You're probably harping about dynamically typed languages. In such languages, the runtime still knows *exactly* what type every item of data has. These are not weakly typed. But what you obviously prefer are "statically typed" languages.

Static typing might statistically reduce some errors, but it certainly can't "eliminate whole classes". Consider "set_warhead_target(float latitude, float longitude)". Did the type system give you any protection from accidentally swapping the two parameters? That's really the problem that you're so worried about: accidentally using the wrong data value in the wrong place.

However, very few statically typed languages (with Rust being a notable exception) have eliminated the biggest source of type errors in computing: Null, which is a bogus placeholder that matches any pointer type (or reference type, depending on the language's nomenclature). So in many cases you have no less risk with static typing than you do with accidentally feeding a string into a Python sqrt() function. And in the case of C or C++, you can be much worse off, as in segfaults and remote exploits.

Comment Re:Small potatoes (Score 1) 91

You can technically do your taxes for free by manually filling out the forms yourself.

I can't think of any business or other government function that still makes me fill out any paper forms. At one recent employer I did not fill out a single paper or PDF-style form, HR or otherwise, in the entire experience from the day I applied until the day I resigned.

Nobody uses paper forms any more. Everything is online. Taxes should be no different, and there should be no 3rd party middlemen collecting tolls for the "privilege" of doing something online the way everything else is done.

Comment Re:Get solar panels (Score 1) 113

Yes. Watt peak. And it does, at least for me. Let's say I can get 120 Watts on average over 8 hrs at 300 days/year, this means that I can get 300 kWh a year. If I pay 20 ct/kWh, it will pay back my initial investment of $300 within 5 years.

There is nothing that forbids me to install more than one of those $300/800 Wp systems in general. But I am no longer allowed to just plug them into the next wall socket according to local regulations, and inform my utility after the fact. If I want more than 800 Wp, I have to apply for a larger system, and I have to get it approved. If for instance, I want 10 kWp, I buy 12 of them, costing me $3600, a power management system for maybe $1500, and I need a board certified engineer to approve the setup. At the end, I'll pay maybe $8000 for the whole 10 kW setup, but not $50,000.

Comment Re:Get solar panels (Score 1) 113

That's a very U.S. centric problem. Apparently, the U.S. make it extremely cumbersome and expensive to build and own Solar, while I can go to the next departement store or to an online store and buy a 800 Wp setup for $300, mount it myself, and all the paper work I have to do is to tell my utility, that I have that 800 Wp system in place.

Comment Re:Dark energy discovered 27 years ago?? (Score 2) 79

If you read Fritz Zwicky's original 1933 and 1936 papers, that's what he actually said about Dark Matter.

Einer Expansion von 500 km/sek pro Million Parseks entspricht nach EINSTEIN und DE SITTER eine mittlere Dichte von rho = 10^-28 gr/cm^3. Aus den Beobachtungen an selbstleuchtender Materie schätzt HUBBLE rho ~ 10^-31 gr/cm^3. Es ist natürlich möglich, dass leuchtende plus dunkle (kalte) Materie zusammengenommen eine bedeutend höhere Dichte ergeben, und der Wert rho ~ 10^28 gr/cm^3 erscheint daher nicht unvernünftig.

Helvetica Physica Acta, Vol. 6, p. 122

An expansion rate of 500 kilometers per second per million parsecs is equivalent to an average density of rho = 10^28 grams per cm^3, according to EINSTEIN and DE SITTER. From the observation of self radiating matter HUBBLE estimates rho ~ 10^31 grams per cm^3. Of course, it is possible, that radiating plus dark (cold) matter put together result in a massively larger density, and the value rho ~ 10^28 grams per cm^3 seems not unreasonable.

As you can see, Zwicky himself coins the term Dark Matter as the place holder for non-radiation stuff out there to resolve a discrepancy of 1 to 1000. Better measurements of the Hubble constant, which at the time was estimated to be 500 km/sec per million parsecs, and is now estimated to be 70 km/sec per million parsecs has shrunk the discrepancy to about 1 to 5, but still, Dark Matter is exactly that, postulated stuff to make up for a discrepancy.

Comment Re:Dark energy discovered 27 years ago?? (Score 4, Insightful) 79

It is always confounding how people always point at Dark Matter and Dark Energy and complain: See? Physicists make things up to keep their theories intact. And physicists then try to explain, that yes, they make those things up, because otherwise theories break. And people then complain: But you don't know what it is! And then physicists replay: Exactly. We don't know what it is. And people cry: But this is a problem! And physicists answer: Yes, this is a problem.

Comment Re:Whatabout (Score 3, Interesting) 82

Let's put it like this: I live in a village (less than 10,000 inhabitants) directly neighboring a small city (130,000 inhabitants). In my village, we have seven bus lines, one train stop with trains running every 30 mins, and a tramway line (and a second one, which is technically not on village territory, but from my place, it's a 5 min walk).

Comment Re: oh oh (Score 1) 65

Just in the Alpine region, where for instance Homo neanderthalensis lived, we had
  1. Biber Complex (2.6 mio to 1.9 mio years ago)
  2. Danube glaciation (1.8 mio years ago)
  3. Gunz complex (800 tsd to 600 tsd years ago)
  4. Mindel glaciation (475 tsd to 370 tsd years ago)
  5. Riss glaciation (300 tsd to 120 tsd years ago)
  6. Würm glaciation (115 tsd to 10 tsd years ago)

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